Fasted cardio is a way to lose weight that is very new. In being so new, fasted cardio is often misunderstood. In order to understand how this process works, you need to understand what fasted cardio truly means. Fasted means when your body is no longer absorbing nutrients from your small intestine. Most people think that this only happens when you just wake up, but there are many times during the day where your body is fasted and it is appropriate to do cardio.
When is the perfect time do to fasted cardio then? Doing fasted cardio first thing in the morning, before eating anything, is a double edged sword. It will help metabolize and burn off that fat that you want, however, it also is shown to pull a bit of muscle with that fat as well. A lot of people see good results with that type of fasted cardio, including myself. The nice thing about fasted cardio is that it doesn’t have to be first thing in the morning. After a meal, it may take you 1-2 hours to feel hungry again, but the digestion portion of eating is what we’re worried about. Three hours is, roughly, what it takes to fully digest a meal and slow the insulin response; after the three hours, then your body is at a state of being fasted again.
Your body is now at a fasted state again and, at this point, it is considered fasted cardio again. Now your muscles have been fed and it will no longer be detrimental to your muscle, but it still will burn that stubborn fat. When all is said and done, fasted cardio first thing in the morning is a good thing but it can have some negative side effects. The best time to do fasted cardio is 3-4 hours after you have eaten and have taken time to digest your food.
Ricky Rice
